Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN AMAZING NEW BAND!!!, April 5, 2006
These guys are great because they evoke a lot of indie touchstones like Pavement, the Pixies, Violent Femmes, Archers of Loaf, some Talking Heads and even a little B-52s (the guitar stuff, not the singing). I am sure I am forgetting some other bands but you get the picture. And yet they have their own sound and deserve all of the praise they are getting. All of it. The music has no pretensions and a lot of heart and energy. And I can't believe I am the first one to post about this major indie record of 2006 (well, 2005 really). Pitchfork has it right about this one. Buy it.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely worth it, May 2, 2006
Upon first listen I was suprised by what I was hearing. I don't really hear a lot of the comparisons. What I do hear is some original, great rock. Take a listen, actually give it 10 listens and form your own opinion. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised!!! This album has interesting, obtuse lyrics, unique shifts in time and catchy hooks. Well worth it!!
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
solid rock combo, May 11, 2006
i think this band is actually quite good. they dont have any sort of new sound per say, but i dont necessarily need something so new every single day. alot of things get tossed around these days, what with all the hype machines running, the blogospheres making music headlines, and pitchforks indie mega kingdom, s**t, the internet just made everything in the world readily available. so things move fast. and music is at the forefront, right behind the great technological beasts of our generation.
this album, is rock. it has some influences. we all do. if you started a band you would too. but what we do with those influences is more important than the mundane fact that we all have them. influences, that is....and the tapes n tapes might like the pixies, even. barely a better band on earth that ever existed, so i say props to tapes n tapes for diggin the pixies. but they dont souund redundant or anything. or derivative. (thats a favorite word for all you critics out there) they have good somegwriting skills. they throw a few styles together to make a good well rounded album.
a quick synopsis if you may...
"just drums" which is anything but just drums. the off kilter beat definitely drives the band through the most likely pixies reference on the album. nice jerky rhythms and a funky hoe down style chorus. the singers spoken-sung lyrics are good an used well. the break towards the end of the song is total classic rock build up. 10/10
"the illiad" a quirky song with a simple riff and some great vocals. it s short one. 8/10
"insistor" more great vocals, a little black francis styled, and more of the hoe-down guitar style. maybe if the pixies played at a rodeo. this is another pixies moment. 9/10
"crazy eights" instrumental that sounds like a western bar room gone surfing with trippy indie breakdown. not the best song on the album, but it has some redeeming qualities. the breakdown saves it. 7/10
"in houston" has a waltzy sort of swagger with some vibraphones and a little feedback build at the end. this song is quuite nice and has grown on me quite a bit. 9/10
"manitoba" is a sleepier affair, with twinkling guitars leading into another little build up at the end. 8/10
"cowbells" this is one of the great songs off the album. more black francis similarities can be made on the vocalist at the beginning, but by the time the chorus comes in with the kick drum and that choppy rhythm all the comparisons are off. the song takes a little punk sorta bridge before repeating the formula. the chorus is great. 10/10
"10 gallon ascots" this is mostly a slow song. its got a very strong pavement american-roots rock feel to it, a slightly annoying bridge and it all leads up to a cacaphonous end which wraps it up pretty nicely to save the day. 7/10
"omaha" this may be the best song on the album. its slow but has a great lurching military drum over a barely plucked guitar and some light strumming. awesome vocals and a great slow build that ebbs before it ever gets predictable. 10/10
"buckle" a synthesis of a rootsy american hoe down mixed with some post punk indie styling. i did not like this song at first but i now consider it essential to the album and also one of the better songs. it has a good solid melody and a catchy chorus 8/10
"jakov's suite" another highlight of the album. it starts of with a fugazi hook and builds like that for a few minutes at high energy, adding a little piano to leaven the rhythm a little then buzzing into a near frenzy before a little bridge that drops you off right in the middle of a heavy blues dirge that might almost be black sabbath and then quickly turns into a lazy loping indie rock track with a confident buzzing two guitar build up to the end. 10/10
that comes out to a 8.7, that technically equals at least 4 1/2 stars. it is a varied indie rock album with definite touchstones to the pixies and pavement but with a little more americana thrown in which could be because of their midwestern origins. the singers voice can be derivative but generally is its own thing, and when you can be comapred to frank black, well, that seems like a good thing to me....this album has grown on me over time and after seeing them live i have become quite obsessed. they are easily one of the best rock bands going around today and the album is a "must-hear" and certainly a band to see live...
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